But certainly, the MEDC provides a lot of high paying jobs for otherwise failed business leaders and political partisans. No way in hell will it willingly surrender the family secrets and threaten the taxpayer goldmine. Indeed, no dog and pony show of ‘allowing’ bids for outside agencies to measure it’s (the MEDC’s) effectiveness will ever meet the threshold of honest brokering.

OABTW, where IS Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith or Michigan AG Bill Schuette in all of this?

Well, that didn’t take long.

After crushing deeply entrenched embedded Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Anthony Marrocco last November by nearly a 40k vote margin, former U.S. Congresswoman Candice Miller packed her bags and moved back home to Macomb County. People were scratching their heads on why someone with a VERY safely gerrymandered political district would want to give up a cushy job in Washington and take a literal/figurative cut in position for this post.

Thank you, President Trump (and the fact that Lake St. Clair is undeniably a cesspool).

Then Public Works Commissioner-elect Miller danced around the question when interviewed repeatedly after her win last November regarding WHY she made this career move. Needless to say, THE reason is not as ominous as some theorists have speculated (yes, THIS writer does know the answer to that question…it is the worst kept secret in Macomb Co. circles), but since it is not germane to this post, I’m moving on.

Also late last year, a sinkhole (later determined to be very “man-made” sinkhole) developed in Fraser about 10 miles north of Detroit. Travel into some adjoining neighborhood streets was blocked and restricted until the severity of the situation could be determined. Families in several homes near the sinkhole were prohibited from returning to their homes for their own safety.

Several of those homes were ultimately condemned and demolished.

The cause of the sinkhole was determined to be a main interceptor line running under 15 Mile Road that had collapsed.

One would think that major sewer line falls under the purview of the Macomb County Public Works Department (and you’d be right).

And since it was their responsibility after all, that the Macomb County Public Works Commissioner would be on the scene immediately coordinating the investigation and repair efforts.

Well, did I mention that the previous Public Works Commissioner was a democrat?

And by “we” I mean real conservatives, not the bland neo-con, conservative wanna-bees around election season who revert back to their true selves the day after the general.

Thanks to the number-crunchers over at the SFA along with President Trump, Gov. Snyder’s signature achievement (Snydercaid), is in jeopardy of closing up shop due to its costs, and someone who had the foresight to include a weakness in the legislation which can be exploited when it grew into an ever-growing percentage of the budget.

What’s even worse (also on page 6 in the SFA link above):

“The new Federal law would increase GF/GP (General Fund/General Purpose) costs sufficiently to trigger this provision by the end of FY 2019-20. Thus, assuming no changes to the statute, the Healthy Michigan Plan would terminate.

If the State opted to continue the program (which would require Legislative action and a gubernatorial signature to change the statute), the GF/GP costs would increase significantly in subsequent years as noted above. Obviously, if the Federal legislation is enacted, the decision on whether to change the statute to continue the HMP would be impacted by the fiscal considerations outlined above.”

Seriously flawed in it’s very concept, the bill grants private operators the ability to operate as-if they are the chartering government itself, sans the payback at the voting booth. Contracts could extend far beyond term limitations, and the ‘authorities’ created would be of a new design.

It will place those who fail to pay the private concern as immediately liable for fees as-if it were a government entity. It also brings back the spectre of eminent domain, and abuse of authority.

It also grants special rights to those who profit from such projects as described in the bill from paying property, sales or use taxes taxes.

The titanic political struggle unfolding in Washington is sucking the oxygen out of Michigan politics, but is analogous to the central political struggle which has been playing out here in Michigan for 48 years. Political media breathlessly report on a struggle between liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans. This struggle is not between Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, nor RINOs and true believers. The Democrats, liberals, and RINOs are completely discredited in Michigan, as they are across most of the United States. All that remains of them is jammed into the Hillary archipelago.

The present political struggle is between the people and the administrative state. Call it bureaucracy, deep state, or administrative state: they are unelected government employees, their agents in the media, and the select beneficiaries of government largess. Their opponents in this struggle are the majority of Americans and Michiganders who pay the price for the administrative state; a now seething mass whose ascendancy was a rude surprise to the administrative state.

We expected the gas tax increase to bring about a $0.07 gas, and $0.11 diesel bump, but ..

We are getting reports from around the state show increases are a little higher. In Traverse City, Gasoline that was at $2.33 per gallon jumped to $2.47, and stations with $2.35 gas jumped to $2.59. It seems there is some confusion caused by the GOP led legislature’s ‘Christmas’ present of 2015.

It seems that each year, special TIF districts are set up throughout our state in order to promote growth or development of a particular economy or industry. The revenues raised through a TIF scheme are theoretically targeted, specifically for the district raising the value of that district over a specified period of time.

But does it work well enough and is it worth the effort, and goodwill lost, as it continues to be abused by those who hold the authority? As voters look at the millage requests on the ballot, they now see the language that reminds them that not-all-of their voted in millage will go where it is intended.